From the “Space City” of Houston, USA, comes the latest news regarding the execution of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) “Artemis II” mission by the Orion spacecraft. The Orion vehicle, as part of the Artemis II mission, has officially been named “Integrity.”
“Integrity” will carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, for the first crewed lunar orbit in over fifty years. This historic flight is scheduled to potentially take place in February 2026.
The spacecraft is planned to be placed atop the NASA Space Launch System rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the preparation phase, the crew and mission managers, as well as support staff of “Integrity,” spent two days at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, allowing media members from Epoch Times and other outlets to get a glimpse of the spacecraft.
This mission has the opportunity to break records set during the Apollo era of the 1960s and 1970s and conduct groundbreaking scientific experiments exploring the effects of deep space environments on humans.
Astronauts and ground personnel emphasize that “Artemis II” is primarily a test flight mission, the success of which will determine the success of the subsequent “Artemis III” mission.
According to the plan, “Artemis II” is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the spring of the following year.
“The crew is ready. They are completing their final training. We have conducted our final training in the control center,” Flight Director for Artemis II, Jeff Radigan, told Epoch Times on September 24.
“We are all geared up. It’s just ensuring all final checks are completed, and once we get to the pad, we’ll be ready for liftoff.”
As per Lakiesha Hawkins, the acting Deputy Administrator of the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, NASA’s goal is to launch no later than April 2026. However, the earliest launch window could open as soon as February 5, 2026.
She said once this launch window opens, there will be 4 to 8 days of “launch period” every month. If they decide to launch within one of the earlier timeframes, it is likely to be a night launch.
On September 24, astronaut Victor Glover, one of the mission’s participants, detailed the schedule for the first two days of the mission.
During the first day of the mission, starting seven hours before launch, the crew and ground team conduct final preparations. “Integrity” will be launched into space by the most powerful operational rocket, which boasts a thrust of 8.8 million pounds.
After the separation from the solid rocket boosters and the core stage, the “Integrity” spacecraft will maneuver into its designated orbit with the upper stage booster.
Once in orbit, the upper stage booster engine will shut down, and the crew will begin testing critical systems, including setting up the onboard toilet and water supply system.
Glover mentioned that he and his team will complete an orbit in 90 minutes, traveling at a speed similar to the International Space Station before reigniting the upper stage booster to reach a high Earth orbit nearly 40,000 miles from the surface.
At the highest point of the orbit, known as the “apogee,” “Integrity” and its service module manufactured by the European Space Agency will separate from the booster. Astronauts Wiseman and Glover will manually pilot “Integrity” and conduct a rendezvous and docking demonstration using the discarded booster as a target.
“We need to make sure that the Orion spacecraft’s flight performance can handle more complex missions such as docking with landers or the Lunar Gateway space station,” he explained. “After completing these tasks, we will continue to adjust the spacecraft layout to ensure it meets our life and work needs for the next nine days.”
Subsequently, the crew will take a short rest, awake in the middle of the night to start the service module engines and then go back to sleep.
Flight Director Radigan explained that at the same time, “Integrity” will fly around the Earth, descending from nearly 40,000 miles to a low point of only 100 nautical miles or perigee.
Once at this altitude, if authorized to proceed, the crew will ignite the engines, execute a trans-lunar injection maneuver, and the combination of flight path and velocity will propel the spacecraft out of Earth’s gravitational pull towards the Moon.
Glover mentioned that only after completing this step, he and other astronauts can finally get some rest, concluding the first day of the mission.
The journey through the vast deep space passage between Earth and the Moon will take four days. During this time, the astronauts will conduct further checks on “Integrity’s” systems and perform trajectory correction maneuvers.
“Since this is a test flight, we will conduct comprehensive tests on the spacecraft, checking all systems to ensure everything is ready,” Radigan explained.
This checkout flight will pause on the sixth day due to the lunar flyby. As per Radigan, depending on the Moon’s position, the crew will fly within 5,000 to 9,000 nautical miles of the Moon. He and other officials noted that from the spacecraft’s windows, the Moon appears about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.
The crew will have three hours to observe the Moon and take photographs. During the lunar flyby timeframe, they will enter a 45-minute period of radio blackout.
They will enter into what is known as a “free return trajectory,” using the Moon’s gravity to slingshot back towards Earth without the need for fuel.
During the return journey to Earth, the astronauts will conduct additional system checks, disassemble, and stow all living facilities they set up on the first day, preparing for reentry into the atmosphere.
Several trajectory correction maneuvers are expected during the return journey, followed by a final burn to ensure “Integrity” reenters the atmosphere at the correct angle. Subsequently, the spacecraft will separate from the service module, orient towards the atmosphere, and direct the heat shield towards it.
The astronauts mentioned that “Artemis II” will reach speeds of approximately 28,900 miles per hour upon reentry into the atmosphere, equivalent to about 39 times the speed of sound. During the reentry process, the spacecraft’s speed will gradually slow to around 15 miles per hour. Once at this speed, “Integrity’s” main parachutes will guide the spacecraft to land in the Pacific near the southern California coast.
The “Artemis II” mission is not only a test flight in terms of flight control but also a comprehensive test of crew living and working conditions aboard the Orion spacecraft.
Michael Doll, assigned to the mission control center’s In-Cabin Activity Console, told Epoch Times that his team is responsible for “everything inside the cabin.” They will also ensure astronauts Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen adhere to the various procedures on time, such as setting up, disassembling, and stowing all cabin equipment—from radiation monitoring instruments to sanitation facilities.
He said, “Almost anything that crewmembers interact with or operate on a daily basis belongs to the systems we are responsible for.”
Doll mentioned that he works directly with the backup and primary crew members in the simulator, as well as NASA’s cargo contractors, to ensure all configurations within the spacecraft cabin are as convenient and efficient as possible.
Doll stated that during the flight, astronauts will be testing procedures for emergency situations, such as donning pressurized flight suits and taking action to protect themselves from solar flares, and more.
NASA requires physical exercise for astronauts on missions lasting longer than nine days. Although “Artemis II” barely meets this threshold, each astronaut will test a new fitness equipment called a “flywheel” and explore methods to optimize their time management during exercise sessions.
However, the most anticipated cabin activity is the astronauts’ observations of the Moon.
On the sixth day of the mission, Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen will have three hours to observe the Moon.
Kelsey Young, the Moon Science Lead for the “Artemis II” mission and the entire Moon Science Ground team, hope that the astronauts will be able to see 60% of the lunar surface that has never been seen by humans.
During “Integrity’s” lunar flyby, the Moon Science team will be stationed in a specially designed support room equipped with an interactive Moon map. There, they will listen to the crew members’ observations and communicate questions and instructions to the Flight Director and the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) responsible for communication with the crew members.
The team has selected dozens of potential observation targets, including the Tsiolkovsky Crater, the Orientale Basin, and the Apollo Basin, among others.
In this mission, scientists will focus mainly on the lunar farside. The Apollo Moon missions avoided the lunar farside to land on the nearside illuminated by the Sun. However, scientists hope to observe as much of the lunar farside as possible before the “Artemis III” mission lands at the lunar south pole.
Despite unmanned spacecraft being able to map the entire lunar surface, the scientists emphasized that human eyes are still the most powerful tool for observing the Moon.
Moon scientists told Epoch Times that greater illumination of the lunar farside is preferred. However, they are limited by other mission factors and won’t know precisely what part of the Moon they will be able to see until after “Integrity” completes its lunar transfer.
Once the observation mission is initiated, the science team will have four days to determine specific targets and request the crew to adjust the spacecraft’s attitude to ensure optimal viewing angles for all targets.
Based on the lunar phase and how sunlight illuminates the surface, emergency observation targets will be set up. Priority objectives could range from recording different shades to capturing distinct features of newly identified crater ridges, and even documenting visible meteoroid impacts in dark areas.
For this purpose, astronauts have undergone several weeks of geology training, believing that their verbal descriptions, hand-drawn sketches, and photographs of lunar surface features can provide vital information. For instance, different colors may indicate the presence of specific minerals while clear contour features of terrain can provide clues not captured by previous photography techniques.
However, the lunar geology observation mission is only one of four scientific missions launched with “Artemis II.”
For Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen, they will not only be astronauts but also subjects in various human science experiments to help scientists better understand the impact of deep space environments on the human body.
One such experiment is called “AVATAR,” which stands for “A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response.” This project will carry hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors derived from bone marrow, placed in chips the size of USB drives, simulating responses to stressors like radiation exposure in brain, heart, liver, and other organ tissues.
Each “organ chip” carries cells extracted from astronauts’ bodies, allowing for personalized medical and drug treatment plans for each crew member.
“We are conducting research on the type of biomarkers type resembling a biological immunological response,” Koch explained, mentioning her previous involvement in the “AVATAR” project during her time at the International Space Station (ISS). “One fascinating aspect of the space environment is that it actually alters our immune system, which is very important for both us and our friends. Many of us have had this experience on the ISS. We must truly grasp this knowledge when executing long-duration missions.”
Another project called ARCHeR (Artemis Research for Crew Health & Readiness) primarily focuses on the crew’s health, sleep patterns, and activity levels during the “Artemis” missions.
“We’re exploring how humans can truly complete these arduous deep space exploration missions. We’re studying cognitive mechanisms, sleep patterns, hygiene habits, etc., learning how to perform at our best in these environments,” Koch elaborated.
The third project is NASA’s Human Research Program “Standard Measures” operation. The “Standard Measures” project has gathered data from ISS missions and will use the “Artemis” missions to expand the database into the realm of deep space travel.
The project covers virtually all conceivable measurements about the human body and stores them in a database, Koch noted. Therefore, even those things we haven’t thought of yet, or didn’t realize the need to answer questions, and even methods that may not have been invented to solve these questions can be applied to all future space travelers through this information repository.
When “Integrity” lifts off for “Artemis II,” it will also deploy four CubeSats into orbit to focus on research themes like radiation and future communication systems.
Upon their return to Earth, the astronauts will immediately execute physical missions to aid in understanding the effects of transitioning from a microgravity environment to a gravity environment like that of the Moon or Mars.
“When we consider destinations like Mars, which are farther off, this becomes especially important because the spacecraft will operate on the Mars surface only after months of transport,” noted Jacob Bleacher, NASA’s Chief Exploration Scientist. “So, this is indeed our first opportunity, and one of a few to date, to begin studying how humans adapt to changes in gravity. We plan to make the most of this chance.”
In addition to the groundbreaking scientific achievements and the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft, the “Artemis II” mission has set many precedents. It has the potential to break the Earth distance record set by Apollo 13 and the speed record set by Apollo 10. As the first crewed lunar orbit in over fifty years, the mission itself is of significant importance.
However, the mission commander told the media that he hopes his mission will be the first domino that triggers a chain reaction propelling humanity into deep space.
“I hope people don’t remember us,” he said on September 24. “If people don’t remember us, then the ‘Artemis program’ has been a success. We have sent humans to Mars. We have sent humans to Saturn’s moon. We are venturing into the solar system.”
Glover agrees with this sentiment, but his focus is on the near future and the “Artemis III” mission.
“We are successful to the extent that we provide a starting point for the ‘Artemis III’ mission, allowing our nation and our international partners to return to the lunar surface,” he said.
Following the “Artemis II” mission scheduled for the spring of 2026, the “Artemis III” mission will mark the first crewed lunar landing since the Apollo 17 mission over fifty years ago. The mission is slated for a mid-2027 launch, lasting 30 days, with a destination to the lunar south pole. The crew list is yet to be determined and hinges on SpaceX delivering the Human Landing System.
The “Artemis IV” mission will focus on connecting and installing components of the Gateway lunar orbiting space station.
All of these missions, as well as all future “Artemis” missions, rely on the Orion spacecraft, meaning their success depends on the success of “Integrity” and the “Artemis II” mission.